Millburn Speech and Debate is one of the largest organizations at Millburn High School, with over 100 members. Throughout the school year, the team travels to tournaments at the regional, state, and national levels.
Students compete in the following events: Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Congressional Debate, Public Forum Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Original Oratory, Declamation, Oral Interpretation (Prose/ Poetry), Program Oral Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Improvisational Acting.
The Millburn Speech and Debate team competes in the New Jersey Forensic League, the Newark Catholic Forensic League, and the National Speech and Debate Association.
Any Millburn High School student may join the team at the beginning of the season. The regular tournament season begins in September and concludes at the end of March, with national championships held April - June.
Contact Us
Head Coach: Jordy Barry
millburnspeechanddebate@gmail.com
Advisor: Maria Vazquez
maria.vazquez@millburn.org
Reach all Team staff at: millburnspeechanddebate@gmail.com.
executive board 2025-2026:
Co-Presidents: Ryan Chen (PF), Caroline Cheng (Congress), and Nicky Wang (PF)
Vice-Presidents of Fundraising: Daniel Han (Speech) and Maxwell Mao (LD)
Vice-President of Community Outreach: Justin Lambert (Speech) and Leyi Han (LD)
Vice-Presidents of Student Recruitment: Jayden Gulati (Speech) and Arik Zhang (Speech)
Vice-President of Communications: Renee Ding (LD) and Bernice Zeng (Congress)
Vice-Presidents of Peer Leaders Program: TBA
Senior Peer Leaders: TBA
Middle School Program Directors: Saumya Katariya (LD) and Olivia Liang (Speech)
Social Chairs: Souri Daver and Jeff Lin
event captains:
Speech - Limited Prep Captains: Jayden Gulati, Daniel Han, Jake Silberstein, and Arik Zhang
Speech - Platform Speaking Captains: Eva Devroy, Justin Lambert, Nyra Thakkar, and Jonathan Yan
Speech - Interpretation Captains: Jeff Lin and Ria Mehta
Congressional Debate Captains: Rayna Batreja, Caroline Cheng, Grace Gu, and Bernice Zeng
Public Forum Captains: Ryan Chen, Vidushi Sinha, Nicky Wang, and Matthew Xia
Lincoln Douglas Captains: Renee Ding, Leyi Han, Maxwell Mao, and Andrew Zhang
Speech and Debate Leagues and Associations
NEW JERSEY SPEECH AND DEBATE LEAGUE (NJSDL)
The NJSDL is the state organization that governs most local tournaments. This organization hosts the State Championships at the end of each season. Visit this site for information on events, participating schools, and the season calendar.
NATIONAL CATHOLIC FORENSIC LEAGUE
Millburn belongs to the Newark Diocese of the NCFL. This site has information on competition events specific to the league and details regarding the Grand National tournament held each May.
NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE ASSOCIATION
The NSDA is the national organization for all speech and debate programs. They issue all debate topics, manage the honor society, and hold the largest national tournament each June. Visit this site for a comprehensive collection of resources for all events, judge training, and honor society details.
